On May 30 and 31, in Dar es-Salaam Tanzania, something revolutionary happened. Twelve experts from some of the places most impacted by forced displacement gathered in person for the inaugural workshop of the IDRC Research Chairs Network on Forced Displacement. Funded by Canada’s International Development Research Centre, and with support from Carleton University, they came from countries where mass displacement is not just an abstract talking point, but a daily lived experience, countries that host the majority of those fleeing the world’s most urgent humanitarian emergencies.
Research Chairs and colleagues, with IDRC and Carleton University staff and professors, in Dar es-Salaam
To the casual observer, this gathering of academics may have looked like just another ivory tower workshop, long on talk and short on new ideas. A closer look would reveal something truly unique: a frank debate about forced displacement between experts based in countries like Mexico, Thailand, Lebanon and Burkina Faso. A debate that was taking place in Tanzania, another country with a lot at stake when it comes to displacement. The conversation was held with no filter and absent the heavy hand of donors or northern academics with fixed agendas, from countries where the crisis is always far away, and migration is always something to be “managed.” Here was a genuine attempt to peel back the usual layers of gatekeepers and sub-grantees from the Global North and let experts from Morocco, Ethiopia and Ghana discuss the usefulness of international policy spaces like the Global Refugee Forum to Africa, or how to address the increased securitization of migration in Africa.
If the conversation was frank, getting everyone together wasn’t always easy. Visa problems are a constant reality for academics from countries in the Global South, even when travelling to other Global South countries. Flights often transit through Europe or the Gulf, adding hugely to the cost and travel time. Finding quality translation in certain languages can be expensive and difficult. The lack of academic journals based in Global South universities can make it hard to find a home for conference proceedings outside of the Global North. These are not simply logistical challenges, they represent facets of our colonized world that, like a vortex, pulls academic conferences, workshops, and publications inevitably towards the Global North. Over the next few years, the Chairs will be embarking on an innovative plan of co-authored and co-designed research projects, alongside a series of webinars, conferences, workshops and events, in multiple languages and across multiple continents. These activities will test the limits of technology in our interconnected world, and highlight the flaws and gaps in the current academic system.
What does the localization of forced migration research really mean? It means letting the real experts speak and actually listening to what they have to say. It means giving money for research without needing to control the outcome. It means being willing to let that research change your mind. It means having a conversation in a language other than English. It means recognizing the vital roles of teambuilding and egalitarian debate, when western academia is modeled on competition and complex social hierarchies about who speaks and who listens. Yet this is not to say that donors and northern academics have no role to play. Quite the contrary. Canada’s International Development Centre and Carleton University facilitated the workshop, but we were there to listen and support, not dictate or dominate. The workshop agenda was set by the Research Chairs, the conversation was led by them, and the message, for once, was loud, clear, and unfiltered: Localization doesn’t just mean having a seat at the table, it means having all the seats.